Drowned

Gr 7 Up—In the future, there will be only water and one's distance from the rising tides. This is where strong-willed Coe finds herself with the water always rising on the small island where she has lived since her birth. There are only so many places of dry land left on Earth, and in order to make sure inhabitants don't get washed away into the tide, Coe's people, who have dwindled to 496, have created a standing formation in order to stay safe. In this formation, the closer one is to the rising waters, the lower her station in life. Unfortunately, Coe is the Craphouse Keeper, and it's just as dirty and smelly as one might imagine and closer to the edge of the water than she'd like to be. Then, her former playmate, Princess Star, daughter of the King of Coe's people, has asked for Coe to be her new Lady-in-Waiting, which brings Coe protection from the tides as well as goregous clothes and fragrant baths. There's also Tiam, the beautiful boy who has stood next to her in the formation since they were children, and with whom she's desperately in love. But, Princess Star has a plan for him, too. Tiam is to marry the Princess to guarantee a male heir to the King, who is dying, and whose death might spurn the remaining residents to revolt and tear the palace to make a bigger landing to protect them from the ever encroaching water. This suspenseful and dramatic tale will make readers feel just as trapped as Coe feels by the rising tides. Coe is an interesting and well-developed character that teens will root for every step of the way, and the other inhabitants of her island provide foils and allies alike. The book ends on a cliff-hanger, and readers will clamor for a sequel. For libraries where dystopians with a twist are popular.—Traci Glass, Eugene Public Library, OR